Larry Costello

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Larry Costello
Personal information
Born(1931-07-02)July 2, 1931
Minoa, New York
DiedDecember 13, 2001(2001-12-13) (aged 70)
Fort Myers, Florida
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight186 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolMinoa (Minoa, New York)
CollegeNiagara (1951–1954)
NBA draft1954 / Round: 2 / Pick: 12th overall
Selected by the Philadelphia Warriors
Playing career1954–1968
PositionPoint guard
Number5, 18, 15, 6, 21
Coaching career1968–1987
Career history
As player:
1954–1957Philadelphia Warriors
1957–1965Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers
1965–1966Wilkes-Barre Barons
1966–1968Philadelphia 76ers
As coach:
1968–1977Milwaukee Bucks
1978–1979Chicago Bulls
1979–1980Milwaukee Does
1980–1987Utica
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

Career NBA playing statistics
Points8,622 (12.2 ppg)
Rebounds2,705 (3.8 rpg)
Assists3,215 (4.6 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Career coaching record
NBA430–300 (.589)

Lawrence Ronald Costello (July 2, 1931 – December 13, 2001) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He was known as the National Basketball Association's last two-handed set shooter.

Playing career[]

After playing at Niagara University, he joined the Philadelphia Warriors in 1954. Two years later he was traded to the Syracuse Nationals. He retired in 1965 from the Philadelphia 76ers (the former Syracuse Nationals), but eventually came back for the 1966–67 NBA season after new head coach Alex Hannum told him he needed a veteran point guard. With 42 games into the season, Costello ripped his Achilles tendon on January 6, 1967 and was replaced by Wali Jones. He did, however, come back to participate in the 1967 playoffs. Costello ended his career for the second and final time in 1968.

During his NBA career, Costello was selected to six NBA All-Star Games (playing in five). He led the league in free throw percentage in the 1962–63 and 1964–65 seasons.

Coaching career[]

Costello began his coaching career at East Syracuse-Minoa High School where he coached the boys varsity basketball team to the state championship for the first time in school history. He took over as head coach of the expansion team Milwaukee Bucks in 1968 and coached them to a league-best 66–16 mark in 1970–71 including a then-NBA record 20-game win streak. They won the championship in the post-season with a 4-0 sweep of the Baltimore Bullets. After a 3–15 start in the 1976–77 season, Costello resigned on November 22, 1976.[1] He was replaced by Don Nelson, who would be head coach of the Bucks for 11 seasons. Costello is one of 23 head coaches to reach the NBA Finals twice. [2]

He coached the Chicago Bulls for 56 games in 1978–79 before returning to Milwaukee to coach the Milwaukee Does of the Women's Professional Basketball League for part of the 1979–80 season.

Costello's last coaching job was at Utica College in the 1980s. The school was making the transition from Division III to Division I as an independent. Costello coached one season in Division III. In his second year in Division I, the Pioneers were the seventh most improved team in the country based on their won-loss record. He retired in 1987.

Later life[]

Costello appeared on NBA Live videogame series, as member of the 1950s NBA Live Legend All-Stars Team.

Costello died on December 13, 2001 after battling cancer for more than a year.[3]

Costello was featured in the book Basketball History in Syracuse, Hoops Roots by author Mark Allen Baker published by The History Press in 2010. The book is an introduction to professional basketball in Syracuse and includes teams like (Vic Hanson's) All-Americans, the Syracuse Reds and the Syracuse Nationals (1946–1963).

NBA career statistics[]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship  *  Led the league

Regular season[]

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1954–55 Philadelphia 19 24.4 .331 .813 2.6 4.1 6.2
1956–57 Philadelphia 72 29.3 .374 .788 4.5 3.3 7.6
1957–58 Syracuse 72 38.1 .426 .847 5.3 4.4 14.9
1958–59 Syracuse 70 39.3 .437 .802 5.2 5.4 15.8
1959–60 Syracuse 71 34.8 .453 .862 5.5 6.3 14.0
1960–61 Syracuse 75 28.9 .482 .799 3.9 5.5 14.5
1961–62 Syracuse 63 29.4 .427 .837 3.9 5.7 13.8
1962–63 Syracuse 78 26.5 .432 .881* 3.0 4.3 11.0
1963–64 Philadelphia 45 25.3 .468 .865 2.3 3.7 11.8
1964–65 Philadelphia 64 30.7 .445 .877* 2.6 4.3 13.5
1966–67† Philadelphia 49 19.9 .444 .902 2.1 2.9 7.8
1967–68 Philadelphia 28 17.6 .453 .827 1.8 2.4 7.2
Career 706 30.0 .438 .841 3.8 4.6 12.2
All-Star 5 14.2 .344 1.000 1.8 2.2 4.8

Playoffs[]

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1957 Philadelphia 2 8.0 .375 .000 2.5 1.0 3.0
1958 Syracuse 3 44.7 .294 1.000 8.3 4.0 11.3
1959 Syracuse 9 40.1 .446 .836 5.9 6.0 17.7
1960 Syracuse 3 40.7 .426 .833 4.7 6.7 16.7
1961 Syracuse 8 33.6 .408 .855 4.4 6.5 16.4
1962 Syracuse 5 33.4 .431 .879 3.2 5.6 14.6
1963 Syracuse 5 26.8 .432 .826 0.8 4.6 10.2
1964 Philadelphia 5 7.2 .214 1.000 0.6 0.8 3.2
1965 Philadelphia 10 20.7 .415 .688 1.2 2.0 5.5
1967† Philadelphia 2 12.5 .750 1.000 2.0 1.5 8.5
Career 52 28.3 .416 .852 3.3 4.2 11.4

Head coaching record[]

Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Milwaukee 1968–69 82 27 55 .329 7th in Eastern — — — — Missed Playoffs
Milwaukee 1969–70 82 56 26 .683 2nd in Eastern 10 5 5 .500 Lost in Conference Semifinals
Milwaukee 1970–71 82 66 16 ..805 2nd in Midwest 14 12 2 .857 Won NBA Championship
Milwaukee 1971–72 82 63 19 .768 1st in Midwest 7 6 5 .545 Lost in Conference Finals
Milwaukee 1972–73 82 60 22 .732 1st in Midwest 6 2 4 .333 Lost in Conference Semifinals
Milwaukee 1973–74 82 59 23 .720 1st in Midwest 16 11 5 .688 Lost in NBA Finals
Milwaukee 1974–75 82 38 44 .463 4th in Midwest — — — — Missed Playoffs
Milwaukee 1975–76 82 38 44 .463 1st in Midwest 3 1 2 .333 Lost in First Round
Milwaukee 1976–77 18 3 15 .167 (resigned) - - - – －
Chicago 1978–79 56 20 36 .357 (fired) - - - – －
Career 730 430 300 .589 60 37 23 .617

References[]

  1. ^ Costello Quits Bucks
  2. ^ "NBA Coach Register".
  3. ^ "BUCKS: Larry Costello, Bucks First Head Coach, Dies at Age 70". NBA.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2006.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""